At floor #2 41.6'. To and including floor #7 124.6'. To and including floor #10 200 feet.At floor #50 inclusive (including #50) 767 Feet. Floor #51 is a mechanical floor. The final height of the structure not including antennas is 900 feet. Antennas will be about 300 feet.

PHLguy

February 24th, 2004, 05:42 PM

The final height of the structure not including antennas is 900 feet. Antennas will be about 300 feet.

isnt it 960 to the roof and 240 foot antenna?

PHLguy

February 24th, 2004, 05:43 PM

New York - city of many windmills! ;)

and thats a good thing??? :?: :evil:

this is the new york of skyscrapers!
not the rural kansas of windmills!

JMGarcia

February 24th, 2004, 06:36 PM

get a grip, it was a joke.

Kris

February 25th, 2004, 01:25 AM

February 25, 2004

ABOUT NEW YORK

Going, Going, Soon Gone

By DAN BARRY

WHO will remember the Subway sandwich shop? Or that Pronto Pizza place? Or Tad's Steaks, with its "Bathroom for Customers Only" sign, and those rotisserie chickens spinning interminably on the spit?

Who will remember these disposable businesses along this stretch of West 42nd Street, the one with no Times Square cachet? Not many, most likely. But for those who might be so inclined, heed the words now tumbling from a speaker outside another of those throwaway stores, the awkwardly named Westside Audio Video Inc.

Just as the recording sings out a store's farewell, over and over, so too does New York City re-create itself, over and over. Some things we save, but most we do not, with this generation leaving to the future what past generations left to us: the question, never satisfactorily answered, of what the street I am walking on was like 20 years ago, 50, 100.

Except for the Condé Nast headquarters, all buildings on the block bordered by Broadway, Avenue of the Americas and 42nd and 43rd Streets are supposed to be vacated within the next few days. The developer Douglas Durst and Bank of America plan to build a skyscraper there. Demolition begins in May.

So let us take one last walk along the north side of that stretch of 42nd Street, where buildings of modest heritage stand beside the architectural equivalents of Bic lighters. And let our guide be Anita Durst, 35, daughter of the developer, an actress and a champion of the arts.

In 1997, while the Durst organization was piecing together a development plan, Ms. Durst persuaded her father to allow an arts group, Chashama, to use some of the space in the interim. "My dad assumed that we'd be there a year, maybe two," she says. "Not seven years."

Ms. Durst begins her bouncing walk at 135 West 42nd, once a sporting-goods store and now Chashama central, if only for this week. Artists will be performing here in these last days, including one who will spend 80 hours as a window display. Chashama will find another home, Ms. Durst says with certainty. Besides, artists thrive on change.

Walking east, she passes Westside Audio, where that speaker sings its sky-is-falling song. Inside, the owners briefly squabble about which day is their last. Depends on when the marshal comes, one says; not true, the other responds. But they agree that soon their cameras and watches, their F.D.N.Y. sweatshirts and Statue of Liberty figurines, will be put into storage.

Past another Chashama storefront where the faded red canopy hints of an earlier incarnation as a clothing shop. Past a Fresco Tortillas. Past the old building that once housed a fried chicken place and maybe, long ago, a fraternal lodge. Now it is home to the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, whose last performance here is Sunday.

SOMEWHERE along this block - behind this door, or maybe that one - was the entrance to the old Pix movie theater. In trumpeting its grand opening in December 1939, the management boasted of the flame-red "body-form" chairs, which were guaranteed not to "cause runs in milady's sheerest hose."

Until last month the Laura Belle catering hall occupied the building, sharing space with what some believed was the ghost of a projectionist named Frank.

Ms. Durst passes an empty storefront where tourists once bought "N.Y. souvenirs," then pauses before the building that until July 2002, housed the Peep-O-Rama - to be remembered if not for its glorious name, then for being the last sex shop on 42nd Street.

There is no plaque, only the Peep-O-Rama marquee. The Durst organization plans to save the sign - for posterity only, and not because of any plans to diversify its portfolio.

Ms. Durst walks past Tad's, whose facade is black and white, like that of a gargantuan Holstein. Just inside the window, a cook flings bony steaks onto the blackened grill, which reminds Ms. Durst that she has not eaten there in a long while.

Next comes an America's 99-cent Store, where the window display advertises St. Valentine's Day balloons, more than a week after Feb. 14th and still 99 cents. After that another storefront used by Chashama, where an artist wearing a plastic red nose - he is, after all, Mister Clown - gives Ms. Durst a wave.

A Sprint telephone store. The Subway sandwich shop. A magazine store. And, at the corner, Pronto Pizza, where, for a few more days, at least, a slice with pepperoni goes for $2.75.

That's it. Ladies and gentlemen, that's it.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

TLOZ Link5

February 25th, 2004, 09:06 PM

Courtesy of Bryant Park's website, http://www.bryantpark.org/ , and the New York Sun which originally printed the following article:

The Fall and Rise of Bryant Park
New York Sun - January 21, 2004

Editorial &amp; Opinion

by Julia Vitullo Martin, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute

Shrewd developers often name their buildings for their neighborhood’s most attractive asset. In this tradition, the Durst Organization recently announced that it was conferring the address of One Bryant Park on its flashy new Midtown tower, whose major tenant will be the Bank of America. On an average day in good weather, lovely, crime-free Bryant Park is wildly popular, drawing some 5,300 visitors at midday, or 900 people an acre. It is almost surely the most used urban open space in the world, exceeding even St. Mark’s in Venice. The New York Times calls it “Manhattan’s town square.”

Yet associating any new building with Bryant Park would have been unthinkable just 20 years ago — akin to naming a building One Needle Park, which would pretty well summarize the drug den that was then Bryant Park. I remember this well because the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, my former employer, had offices on West 40th Street, Bryant Park’s southern boundary. We had ringside seats for the sordid dealing and using that went on openly in the park, nestled behind the New York Public Library.

Entrepreneur Michael Fuchs, who was the first chairman of HBO, which was headquartered across the park on West 42nd Street, also remembers those days well. “It was the Wild West down there,” he recalled recently. We had all come from uptown — Rockefeller Center, a good neighborhood. The Bryant Park area was so bad that people had no reason to go out. We developed a philosophy that we would make the HBO building self-sufficient, with a great cafeteria, gym, screenings, whatever people needed.”

In retrospect, it may be hard to grasp that city government actually permitted the ongoing, daily degradation of such a magnificent asset. After all, the city-owned Bryant Park wasn’t hidden in some obscure corner, far away from official eyes. It’s been right there since the mid-19th century. It sits squarely in the middle of Midtown, surrounded by world-renowned landmarks. For example, the gorgeous Beaux-Arts New York Public Library, which opened in 1911 and uses two acres of Bryant Park, was designed by Carrère &amp; Hastings. Raymond Hood’s 1924 neo-Gothic American Radiator building, on West 40th Street, now the Bryant Park Hotel, is regarded by many architects as the finest building in New York.

The Beaux-Arts Bryant Park Studios Building, which opened in 1901, was built for a New York artist who had just returned from Paris, bringing with him the French emphasis on natural northern light. He commissioned lavish double-height workshop/residential studios with huge windows to capture the unobstructed light from Bryant Park. Yet in 1979, things were such a mess that the eminent urbanist, William Whyte, wrote about Bryant Park, “If you went out and hired the dope dealers, you couldn’t get a more villainous crew to show the urgency of the situation.”

Bryant Park had 150 reported robberies and 10 rapes annually, countless auto break-ins on the periphery, and a murder every other year. As a public park it was so mismanaged that it held down the property values of the surrounding neighborhood.

Today Bryant Park pumps up property values. Bank of America Senior Vice President John Saclarides says about the new tower, “Because of Bryant Park, we anticipate great employee happiness with our site. We think our employees will use the park for visitation, for reading, and for a remote office at lunch time.” (The park now has free wireless fidelity Web access, known as “wi fi.”) What happened?

In 1980 a group of civic-minded New Yorkers, property owners, and neighbors decided to rescue the park, and set up the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation. They spent seven years negotiating with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation before they succeeded in getting a 15-year lease, which began in 1988. (The lease was subsequently renewed for another five years.) The BPRC immediately closed the park for five years of rebuilding.

The old design — a formal French garden — had dated from 1934, when Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, New York’s master of public works, decided to elevate and isolate the park above the sidewalk. Instead of making Bryant Park an elegant respite from the congestion of midtown as intended, the isolationist design deterred desirable users while attracting undesirable users.

The new BPRC design aimed to re-people the park while raising revenues to pay for the expensive planned maintenance of several million dollars annually — far more than the city spent. The designers cut new entrances, tore down the iron fencing, ripped out high hedges, restored the fixtures, and added neoclassical kiosks for concessions.

Fixed benches were replaced with some 3,200 movable, pretty French chairs and 500 tables, providing what Mr. Biederman calls “freemarket seating.” The park’s Upper Terrace, which had been its most active drug market, was leased to the trendy Bryant Park Grill, which became an instant hot spot.

High standards of behavior are enforced by the security officers, whom Mr. Biederman calls “friendly but firm.” They deter “little pieces of disorder,” as Mr. Biederman calls misdemeanors. The old laissez-faire attitude toward disruptive behavior is gone. Neighboring business people and property owners are overjoyed.

The chairman of Mountain Development Corporation, which owns the now-landmarked Bryant Park Studios, Robert Lieb, recalled that crime was so bad in 1980 that his building could only be marketed by promising strong private security.” The park should have been a positive for us, but the drug dealing and crime made it a negative,” he said.

Today, he says, his company doesn’t even have to work to rent space. “Our tenants, boutique designers, and manufacturers who specialize in sales to stores like Barney’s and Nordstrom’s, want to be on the park.” Tenants include hip designers like Theory and Angel Zimick.

Bryant Park proves that if you build something beautiful that people can enjoy,” Mr. Lieb said. “They will pay a premium price to be there.” And, indeed, rents soared to the mid-50s today from $14 a square foot in 1980.

Perhaps best of all, taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for the park’s $4 million annual budget, which is all privately raised. While $5 million of the $18 million spent on capital improvements came from public funds, no public money has been spent on the park since 1996. It may well be the only urban park in the world supported by neither government nor charitable funds.

Because this park is integral to the functioning of Midtown, we ask commercial interests and users to pay for it,” Mr. Biederman said.

Bryant Park’s successful privatization is a tribute to a selfless innovation by the public sector — permitting the private sector to step in with resources and operational skills to restore and manage a splendid public space. Most public officials wouldn’t have had the courage to let the private sector take over.

New York taxpayers owe heartfelt thanks to the four mayors, beginning with Edward Koch, and the four parks commissioners, finishing with Adrian Benepe, who made this happen.

billyblancoNYC

February 26th, 2004, 01:08 AM

Great story, beautiful park. How did it get so bad back then. Amazing.

Ah, the good ol' days.

Clarknt67

March 2nd, 2004, 11:11 AM

New York - city of many windmills! ;)

and thats a good thing??? :?: :evil:

this is the new york of skyscrapers!
not the rural kansas of windmills!

Well, we were first settled by the dutch, land of windmills. Maybe we're just returning to our roots?

Kris

March 6th, 2004, 04:21 PM

http://www.cookplusfox.com/images/cook_img_19.jpg

One Bryant Park

New York City
2000000 sqft.

Early in 2007, an extraordinary crystalline skyscraper of steel, aluminum and glass will rise from the northwest corner of Bryant Park to illuminate Midtown Manhattan. Developed by the Durst Organization to house the New York headquarters of the Bank of America, it promises to reshape the urban skyline of the future as surely as did the famed Crystal Palace, the first glass and steel building in America, when it rose from Bryant Park in 1853.

The design for One Bryant Park is inspired by the building's unique site within its local urban location and its broader urban context. Located at the juncture of Sixth Avenue - a highly trafficked and commercially important artery - and 42nd Street, near Times Square, with its worldwide reputation as a critical center for arts and entertainment, the design strives to respond to these dense urban conditions. Starting from the building's base, which is designed to accomodate the surrounding complex pedestrian and transit circulation, to the overall massing, continuing up to the tip of the antennae, the design responds to the built environment around One Bryant Park, an impressive lineage of iconic skyscrapers, from the Chrysler Building to the east to the old McGraw Hill Building to the west.

One Bryant Park will be noted for its pioneering integration of inspired design with innovative, high-performance environmental technologies. In a city of "firsts," it will be the first high-rise to reach for the U.S. Green Building Council's coveted Leadership in Energy &amp; Environmental Design "Platinum" designation. To help promote the health and productivity of its tenants, reduce waste, and assure environmental sustainability, One Bryant Park will use translucent high-performance glass in floor-to-ceiling windows to permit maximum sunlight in interior spaces, in addition to featuring "floating" floors to facilitate more even, healthful, and efficient heating and cooling. It will also capture and re-use all rainwater and wastewater, saving millions of gallons of precious water each year. A very high percentage of the building's materials will come from recycled and renewable sources within 500 miles of New York City.

The exterior wall of One Bryant Park will be a clear glass curtainwall to complement the building's faceted-crystal design. The form is sculpted to provide a south-facing facet to address its prominent relationship ot Bryant Park. This portion of the building is constructed of a deep double wall, permitting views into and out of the structure while becoming an icon for its environmentally responsible features. The base of the building locks into the urban fabric with elements that befit the human scale of its context. The exterior of the base has subtle markers which address key neighboring buildings, including a horizontally emphasized elevation on 42nd Street which speaks to this major transportation thoroughfare. The crystal rises from its base with sculptural facets that infer movement and varied views amond the neighboring towers.

Not just another tower, One Bryant Park will shine as a beacon of environmental intelligence and sustainability, healthy for people and good for the environment.

The massing is good, but the building would really stand out on the skyline if it were just a little taller. The tower almost seems to be hiding behind Conde Nast. Aside from this One Byrant Park should be really great.

Eugenius

March 7th, 2004, 10:00 AM

In that last rendering, the tip of OBP is higher than the top of the Conde Nast antenna (at, I believe, 1146 feet). Does that mean that it will be 1200 feet tall?

MonCapitan2002

March 7th, 2004, 10:27 AM

While I am not a fan of buildings with glass facades, I do admit that this building's design is appealing. I like the overall asthetics of this structure and I think it will be a fine addition to the city's skyline.

dbhstockton

March 7th, 2004, 11:44 AM

I think it's going to look really fat from street level. You can't disguise 2 million sq ft. at that height, no matter how many facets you put on it.

NYguy

March 7th, 2004, 12:56 PM

I think it's going to look really fat from street level. You can't disguise 2 million sq ft. at that height, no matter how many facets you put on it.

LOL...no discrimination against "fat" buildings on the skyline please. It will be a very bulky building though (it looks like it could have Conde Naste for lunch, itself a bulky building). With that bulk it should be higher. But I'm just happy its going to get built. Very exciting times in NY... :lol:

NoyokA

March 7th, 2004, 04:15 PM

A Citicorp Center for the 21st Century.

NoyokA

March 7th, 2004, 04:16 PM

http://www.cookplusfox.com/images/cook_img_25.jpg

Be aware of the edge! Its a long fall>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> :o

Gulcrapek

March 7th, 2004, 04:24 PM

Is that the double wall system? If so, that's pretty deep...

NoyokA

March 7th, 2004, 04:32 PM

There, the scary thing is there is no wall! Ive seen other midtown office headquarters with similar layouts, it encourages an open working environment. I believe the double wall will be used on the south east facade, or facet, however it will be reffered to as.

matt3303

March 7th, 2004, 05:47 PM

While the views from the ESB and New Jersey may be good, I unfortunatley agree that it's going to look massive and overbearing from the street level.

Gulcrapek

March 7th, 2004, 05:56 PM

Maybe. Hopefully the slanting facets will reflect light in a way that would blend them into the sky and minimize their impact. I'm sure Fox+Cook have thought of that.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp. announced yesterday that it is cutting 12,500 jobs as a result of its merger with FleetBoston Financial Corp.

The cuts represent about 7 percent of the companies' now combined work force of 181,000.

The job cuts will begin this month and will take place over the next two years, with about 30 percent of them accomplished through attrition, the bank said.

The bank has said it expects to get about $650 million in savings from trimming overlapping operations and processes.

Bank of America, which will erect a new marquis building at One Bryant Park, has promised to keep 3,000 jobs and add more than 2,800 jobs in New York City as part of a tax-incentive deal with the New York City Industrial Development Agency.

However, city officials say that the bank can still meet those job goals by moving positions from other cities or states. A new 2.1-million-square-foot office building on West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue will become headquarters to the bank's investment banking, trading and asset management divisions, and is slated to open in 2008.

The completion last week of Bank of America's merger with Fleet created the nation's No. 2 bank, with assets estimated at $966 billion.

The bank has about 35 million customers, about 5,700 branches from coast to coast and 16,500 ATMs. In assets, it trails only Citigroup and the company to result from the planned merger between Bank One and J.P. Morgan Chase.

I walked past the site yesterday, and there's scaffolding up around most of the now-closed shops. The National Debt clock is gone, too.

NYguy

April 9th, 2004, 07:36 PM

APRIL 9, 2004
Businesses have been vacated; demolition beginning soon

http://www.pbase.com/image/27777591.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/27777593.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/27777600.jpg

krulltime

April 9th, 2004, 11:09 PM

thanks for the pics update! This is looking very promising! :D

NYguy

April 13th, 2004, 09:40 AM

NY Post...

DEBT TAKES A HOLIDAY AS 'CLOCK' IS REMOVED

By MARIANNE GARVEY

April 13, 2004 -- Midtown is missing one of its landmarks.
The world-famous National Debt Clock that hung on the side of a three-story building at 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue has been torn from its home of more than 15 years. The building, owned by the Durst Organization, is being stripped and demolished in order to make room for a high-rise.

But because the national debt is still rising, a new billboard-sized digital clock will be reappearing in a few weeks one block north at 1133 Sixth Ave. "It'll be going back up in a month," said Douglas Durst, president of the Durst Organization, which looks after the clock.

Durst's late father, real-estate magnate Seymour Durst, installed the clock in 1989 when the debt was $2.7 trillion. When the clock returns in May, the debt will be more than $7 trillion.

In fact, the debt is now rising so quickly that the last seven numbers of the new clock will be moving too quickly to be read, Durst said.

"The numbers are there to be helpful in reminding people and because my father thought it necessary to tell people how big the debt actually is," Douglas said.

The last time the clock went dark was in September 2000 - because the national debt was actually falling. It was plugged back in on July 2002 when the debt again began to rise.

http://www.nypost.com/photos/news0413200409b.jpg

NYguy

April 28th, 2004, 06:36 PM

From an ad in today's NY Post, as the building markets the upper floor space...

http://www.pbase.com/image/28414925/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/28414925/original.jpg

NYguy

May 10th, 2004, 08:58 AM

Walked by the site yesterday. Most of the former bussinesses are being gutted from the inside, but there remains one last holdout - McDonalds is alive and well. I guess they will remain open until the very end....

LeCom

May 27th, 2004, 08:48 PM

Walked by the site yesterday. Most of the former bussinesses are being gutted from the inside, but there remains one last holdout - McDonalds is alive and well. I guess they will remain open until the very end....
That's actually pretty bad. McDonald's was the one I actually wanted to see bite the dust. I'd rather see the Pizza Pronto still open.

Gulcrapek

May 27th, 2004, 10:54 PM

Pronto Pizza. :p

And it's not gone, it moved somewhere nearby.

NewYorkYankee

May 28th, 2004, 10:24 AM

Im excited about this building, I think it looks amazing! :D

NoyokA

May 31st, 2004, 07:32 AM

Walked around the site yesterday, I'll get some pics up later. All but the McDonalds has been gutted and all signage has since been removed. McDonald's is still trucking on. The entire west side of the site is being demolished starting from the center of the site where there excavations have already begun.

Gulcrapek

May 31st, 2004, 12:40 PM

I was there yesterday and took pictures too. Once the other computer is healed from yet another mysterious gremlin I'll post them.

Gulcrapek

May 31st, 2004, 04:33 PM

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/album45/1bpsite.sized.jpg

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/album45/1bpsite2.sized.jpg

krulltime

May 31st, 2004, 05:37 PM

Where is the McDonalds at? Is is it on the 6th Ave. side? I cant tell.

billyblancoNYC

June 1st, 2004, 01:36 AM

Yes, 6th ave.

NoyokA

June 1st, 2004, 08:15 AM

Gul, did you take any pictures of the excavations on 42nd Street?

Gulcrapek

June 1st, 2004, 12:28 PM

NYT or 11 TXS Plaza?

NoyokA

June 1st, 2004, 12:48 PM

NYT or 11 TXS Plaza?

The excavations on 42nd Street for One Bryant Park.

Gulcrapek

June 1st, 2004, 04:04 PM

Oh. I didn't know there were any.

NoyokA

June 2nd, 2004, 08:36 AM

Oh. I didn't know there were any.

Indeed there are, I'll get some pics up tommorow.

Arch

June 3rd, 2004, 10:35 PM

Walked by on 42nd street today and demolition work has definately begun. At least two buildings were substantially down and another had the front facade mostly removed. These are all short buildings. They should come down pretty fast.

Sorry no pics.

krulltime

June 4th, 2004, 12:49 AM

I can't wait. I hope this tower and the New York Times tower will start construction at the same time. That will be awesom!

BrooklynRider

June 4th, 2004, 09:53 AM

It looks like demolition started with Peep-O-Rama and is moving East and West from there. North side of the block and East side will likely be last.

Agglomeration

June 4th, 2004, 10:41 PM

Maybe it was appropriate that Peep-O-Rama was the first structure to be demolished. A clear sign that Times Square is finally shedding its reuptation as a haven for drag queens, and for the better. I for one won't miss the red-light reputation that TS suffered until Giuliani changed the zoning laws.

Question though, what kinds of businesses are planning to open in One Bryant Park's retail spaces?

Gulcrapek

June 4th, 2004, 11:15 PM

The theater Urinetown was in... dunno about the rest.

krulltime

June 4th, 2004, 11:54 PM

I saw Urinetown at a theater close by...Is that getting demolished as well?

billyblancoNYC

June 5th, 2004, 01:22 AM

I saw Urinetown at a theater close by...Is that getting demolished as well?

Think so. Not sure where it's moving, but there will be theater space in the new building when completed.

BrooklynRider

June 7th, 2004, 09:42 AM

It's the Henry Miller Theater and it will be rebuilt in the new building complex. As for Agglomeration's singling out of "drag queens" as the purveyors of Peep-O-Rama's services and wares as well as the source of the old Time Square sleaze (which some folks nostalgically miss) - I submit it that the most consistent customers of "red light bisinesses" were Long Island and Jersey commuters, followed by NYC visitors.

Drag Queens can be found downtown, performing and entertaining and. it might surprise you, at the forefront of many civil rights movements. Crack-whore trannies and Drag Queens are different creatures all together.

NoyokA

June 7th, 2004, 06:35 PM

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010517.jpg

The very last selling hold-out, the Sprint Store is now unidentifiable.

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010520.jpg

Mid-block 42nd Street. Everything west to the Conde Nast Building is the next to go.

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010521.sized.jpg

The big hole beckens. The pile of bricks is almost artistic.

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010522.jpg

The building to the left is the next to go.

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010523.sized.jpg

Putting the massive overhaul in context.

NewYorkYankee

June 7th, 2004, 08:00 PM

Im excited! :D

krulltime

June 7th, 2004, 10:52 PM

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010521.sized.jpg

I love this photo it really shows the site falling apart! :D

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/P1010523.sized.jpg

I wonder which is the rendering for 20 Times Square. Is it the 2nd from the left? Or the 5ht rendering? I know the 8th rendering is the 11 Times Square Tower.

Gulcrapek

June 7th, 2004, 11:00 PM

5th from right.

krulltime

June 7th, 2004, 11:29 PM

Thanks. Ok...so what is the 2nd rendering tower then?

Zoe

June 8th, 2004, 08:45 AM

Times Square Tower

TAFisher123

June 12th, 2004, 04:29 PM

6-12-04

http://www.pbase.com/image/30065186.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/30065215.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/30065240.jpg

BrooklynRider

June 14th, 2004, 09:04 AM

Destruction never looked so satisfying.

NYguy

June 14th, 2004, 09:14 AM

Its comin' folks...

NoyokA

July 1st, 2004, 11:17 AM

OKoranjes:

Cook + Fox Architects Tuesday unveiled designs for the Bank of America Tower, which will be the second tallest building in New York City, and, the firm hopes, one of the most environmentally friendly tall structures in the U.S.

The 2.1 million square-foot, 945-foot skyscraper, located on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street, will be made largely of glass, steel, and aluminum. Its form will be marked with large folds and vertical lines, helping change viewers’ perception as they walk around the building. The form, firm members point out, is also meant to reduce wind drag against building, particularly its upper portions.

The building’s green features build on principal Robert Fox’s (formerly of Fox &amp; Fowle) experience with 4 Times Square, aka the Conde Nast Building, next door, which was at the time one of the “greenest” skyscrapers ever built. For instance daylight at Bank of America is increased with taller ceilings (up to a foot taller than most office buildings, which explains why the mammoth tower will only be 54 stories) and floor-to-ceiling windows, while an onsite co-generation plant will provide much of the building’s energy. Other green elements include LED lights, recyclable building materials, waterless urinals, a gray-water system to capture wastewater and rainwater, and under-floor displacement air ventilation that allows for air filtering and individual heat and air control.

An urban garden room will greet visitors on the lower levels, while the building will also incorporate a restored and reconstructed theater, the 1,000-seat Henry Miller Theater.

The building will house Bank of America’s offices on its lower half, and a number of future tenants on its upper floors. It is scheduled to break ground in August and open in 2008.

Derek2k3:

I guess they mean 2nd tallest with antenna mast but who cares.

Right. But you can argue that this building's 945 foot roof is taller than the Chrysler Building, all spires excluded. When Freedom Tower finishes in 2007, BOFA will become on its completion the cities 3rd/4th tallest.

However its rank is not to detract from its impact. Its visibility is central. It will have a Citicorp-like presence. Couple that with the prominence of 42nd Street, Bryant Park, the addition of the NYTIMES Tower, and the culmination of an array of rather mediocre highrises on 6th Avenue. This is a skyline building! And it will have a profound impact on the cityscape as we know it today.

NoyokA

July 1st, 2004, 11:25 AM

I would also like to make a point that I am happy that they added three floors to the height. While Cook + Fox maintained the building would be 960 feet, the building records said otherwise, maybe Cook + Fox were planning for this? Of late plans were for a 900 foot 51 storey building.

This building will at least in height surpass Citicorp. Will it's architecture give it landmark stature?

Johnnyboy

July 1st, 2004, 12:06 PM

hopefully.

Does anyone have a picture of the present desighn of this building?

Gulcrapek

July 1st, 2004, 12:20 PM

A few pages back in this thread.

http://www.cookplusfox.com/images/cook_img_19.jpg

NewYorkYankee

July 1st, 2004, 02:06 PM

I love this building!!! :D

Johnnyboy

July 1st, 2004, 02:42 PM

It looks cool 8)

Yet kind of weird but in a good interesting way. :)

NoyokA

July 1st, 2004, 04:03 PM

Does anyone have a picture of the present desighn of this building?

A few pages back in this thread.

Not necessarily.

Gulcrapek

July 1st, 2004, 04:10 PM

...?

There's nothing official regarding a height change. (I assume you're thinking of the figure given in the article)

NoyokA

July 1st, 2004, 04:16 PM

...?

There's nothing official regarding a height change. (I assume you're thinking of the figure given in the article)

What are you talking about? Read:

Cook + Fox Architects Tuesday unveiled designs for the Bank of America Tower, which will be the second tallest building in New York City, and, the firm hopes, one of the most environmentally friendly tall structures in the U.S.

NoyokA

July 1st, 2004, 04:18 PM

The unveiled design also includes height changes as well as possibly design changes.

By no means are the pictures you posted the present design of the building.

:idea: Instead of making more office space by fatning the building, it would be a better idea to inclese the floors than fatning the building. Yet it is still a cool building as it is.8)

:idea: they should not make this building so gray and does anyone have a picture of this building at night?

Zoe

July 2nd, 2004, 08:53 AM

Looks like the new rendering is a tiny bit taller. The last angle on the top left side starts breaking a little higher than the old ones.
New
http://img30.exs.cx/img30/9586/040630cook.jpg
http://img30.exs.cx/img30/3438/cook_img_19.jpg
Old

NewYorkYankee

July 2nd, 2004, 10:54 AM

2nd tallest in NY..under the ESB? or the FT?

ZippyTheChimp

July 2nd, 2004, 02:14 PM

Good eye.

I layered the images in Photoshop. It has grown slightly. The amount is the height of the sloped section. The height of the right section of the building has grown by the same amount.

NYguy

July 2nd, 2004, 06:48 PM

2nd tallest in NY..under the ESB? or the FT?

ESB. Without the antenna though, not taller than Chrysler...

James Kovata

July 2nd, 2004, 07:49 PM

Is the 945' measurement to the top of the glass curtain? NYT, including its spire, will be taller than Chrysler. Perhaps, in calling it the second tallest building, the antenna has now become a spire that will increase the actual building height past Chrysler.

nike

July 2nd, 2004, 08:57 PM

:) so the top of the roof is 945ft. is BOA going to be taller than citigroup. :)

Johnnyboy

July 2nd, 2004, 10:54 PM

:lol: ofcource it will.

exiting project

NoyokA

July 3rd, 2004, 10:28 AM

Meanwhile demolition moves on:

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/BOFA1.jpg

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/BOFA2.jpg

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/BOFA3.jpg

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Stern/BOFA4.jpg

RandySavage

July 6th, 2004, 12:41 PM

The site is around 3 times longer than the likely footprint of the tower. It will be interesting to see what they do with all that space... public plaza? theater? parking garage?

billyblancoNYC

July 7th, 2004, 02:07 AM

The site is around 3 times longer than the likely footprint of the tower. It will be interesting to see what they do with all that space... public plaza? theater? parking garage?

I thought I read a while ago that there will be a public space, possibly covered.

Johnnyboy

July 7th, 2004, 10:17 AM

theres going to be a spire above 1000 feet tall right?

krulltime

July 7th, 2004, 11:05 AM

The site is around 3 times longer than the likely footprint of the tower. It will be interesting to see what they do with all that space... public plaza? theater? parking garage?

I thought I read a while ago that there will be a public space, possibly covered.

I hope there is a plaza with a restaurant cafe or something and a waterfall. It used to be popular in cities in the 70's and the 80's along with the building construction.

NYguy

July 7th, 2004, 03:48 PM

This is a repost from page 30...(condensed)

Testimony at public hearing on 20 November 2003 in support of One Bryant Park

1) Architectural merit
The size, form and expression of the building will give it an iconic presence on the midtown Manhattan skyline. The bulk of the building area is contained in a sculpted tower that has facets which will change the perception of the building with the passage of the sun, giving it a kinetic, crystalline appearance.

2) Sustainability
The building has been designed to qualify for a LEEDS Platinum rating, a first for a building of this scale. It incorporates a number of “green” strategies, reducing emissions, energy and water requirements to a significant degree. Facets of the curtainwall to the south have been designed with a deep double wall as part of this sustainable strategy; this is the most visible portion of the building where the “green” nature of the building will be easily apparent. This building will set a high standard for future commercial office buildings.

3) Transportation/Circulation The site is located within walking distance of the major regional transportation hubs of Grand Central Terminal and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. It sits between the Sixth Avenue subway station at 42ndStreet (B, D, F and V) and the Times Square subway station (1, 2, 3, 9, 7, N, Q, R, S, W). This unique concentration of public transportation facilities can absorb the density of the proposed development.

A public benefit of this project is that it will enhance public transportation facilities by providing a number of subway related amenities.

These new facilities include a stair and glass entry pavilion within the property line at the northwest corner of Sixth and 42ndStreet, providing a new below ground walkway between Sixth Avenue subways and the Times Square subways, and new stairs at the western end of the site to this passageway. This connection will expand the capacity of 42ndStreet for pedestrian movement and will allow pedestrians to walk below ground from Eighth Avenue to Fifth Avenue.

The character of these below grade passages needs to be addressed, particularly if it is in the free or paid zone, and whether there will be retail.

4) Public Amenity Spaces
The project will provide a number of pedestrian circulation amenities. These spaces include a 5’ sidewalk widening on 42ndStreet, an open entrance plaza on the south side of the site at 42ndStreet and Sixth Avenue, an enclosed “urban garden room” to the north at 43rdStreet and Sixth Avenue, and a through block arcade at the west end of the site connecting 42ndand 43rdStreets.

Added population coming from the building will put even more pressure on Bryant Park, and one possible solution would be to increase the size of the “urban garden room” by eliminating the through block arcade, and consolidating this space at Sixth Avenue by pushing the building about 35 feet closer to 4 Times Square.

An alternative public amenity to relieve the congestion created by the new population might be to create a rooftop garden on the setback portion of the building, located between the tower of 4 Times Square and the new One Bryant Park tower. Rooftop gardens were a characteristic of the Times Square area at one time.

5) Landmarked Theater On the 43rdStreet side the site and façade encompasses the Henry Miller Theater, a New York City Landmark. The interior of the theater is not viable for use as a theater in its current condition for code, functional and market reasons. The proposed project retains the 43rdStreet façade for a nominal dimension in its current location as well as certain spatial and decorative elements of the internal plan, while completely rebuilding the theater to modern specifications.

It's a real shame that of all the terrific NYC mega-projects in the works, including this 1 Bryant, NYT Tower, Calatrava Seaport, Goldman Sachs HQ and Downtown NYU Hospital, the only major disappointment is the one that should have been the most impressive: Freedumb Tower.

JMGarcia

July 8th, 2004, 04:40 PM

... the only major disappointment is the one that should have been the most impressive: Freedumb Tower.

If you are insuating that using "freedumb tower" is childish, then I mind you asking my age.

Use this board to share opinions, give information, post photos, etc. If using a play-on-words like "freedumb" offends you, then I apologize - but don't try to belittle me.

krulltime

July 9th, 2004, 12:29 PM

I don't think "freedumb tower" is childish at all.... I think is a funny name :lol: . I woudn't have come up with a better name myself for the freedom tower.

Oh if I am ask... I am really older than 18.

JMGarcia

July 9th, 2004, 01:10 PM

If you are insuating that using "freedumb tower" is childish, then I mind you asking my age.

Use this board to share opinions, give information, post photos, etc. If using a play-on-words like "freedumb" offends you, then I apologize - but don't try to belittle me.

Complaining about "belittling" when using a phrase like "freedumb" is somewhat ironic don't you think?

TLOZ Link5

July 9th, 2004, 02:43 PM

Has there been any real opposition to this building's construction at this moment? We're all aware of the real estate wrangling preceding the assembly of the site, but now that that's over with has there been much protest?

James Kovata

July 9th, 2004, 05:41 PM

If you are insuating that using "freedumb tower" is childish, then I mind you asking my age.

Use this board to share opinions, give information, post photos, etc. If using a play-on-words like "freedumb" offends you, then I apologize - but don't try to belittle me.

Complaining about "belittling" when using a phrase like "freedumb" is somewhat ironic don't you think?

Now now! I thought the comment was unnecessary as well. He's using the word "freedumb" to simply point out how inane the name is.

JMGarcia

July 9th, 2004, 09:42 PM

Maybe I've just heard too many people whine about the whole WTC so often and so inanely for so long that my patience is shorter than it should be. :)

Pottebaum

July 9th, 2004, 10:37 PM

This whole conversation about the Freedumb Tower phrase reminds me of something I'd see on Seinfeld :lol:

James Kovata

July 10th, 2004, 12:22 AM

This whole conversation about the Freedumb Tower phrase reminds me of something I'd see on Seinfeld :lol:

If only we could make Seinfeldian money!

JMGarcia: I understand where you're coming from. Whining about WTC does get old and irritating after a while. I'm holding out hope that SOM and David Childs will see the light of day and Silverstein allows his ego to grow just a bit more so that he truly desires an architectural masterpiece.

OK....now...back to the topic of One Bryant Park. Is the spire-like object a spire now? Or is it still an antenna?

BrooklynRider

July 10th, 2004, 10:45 AM

Has there been any real opposition to this building's construction at this moment? We're all aware of the real estate wrangling preceding the assembly of the site, but now that that's over with has there been much protest?

No protest really. I think there are underlying safety issues related to the construction that will be negotiated. Remember, 4 Times Square had that major scaffolding collapse tht shut down the Times Square environs and killed one woman in the Woodstock Hotel across the street.

Johnnyboy

July 10th, 2004, 01:12 PM

This is the bank of america forum. not the freedom tower. plese lets talk about the 1 bryant park building. not the freedom tower

yepole

July 10th, 2004, 08:55 PM

Something should have being built there for long time ago. Looks like real hole in the neighborhood :) How new building's gonna look from this perspective?

http://tinypic.com/q05x

nike

July 16th, 2004, 09:30 PM

When will construction start. Also whats going to be the height of the roof of the building. :?: 8)

BronxBoy

July 16th, 2004, 10:31 PM

I used to work at 1100 Avenue of the Americas, which is right across the street from the site of the Bank of America Tower. It wasn't entirely a hole in the area. It provided the neighborhood, which is largely offices with a pizzeria, a deli, a few fast-food restaurants, and a few stores. I read an article once that said it was the most expensive pice of property in Manhattan. I guess at the time, they knew that it wasn't going to remain a commercial zone. Despite the role the site played in the neighborhood, it didn't exactly fit. The majority of the site was comprised of one and two story buildings, surrounded by moderate and large office skyscrapers. It was just a matter of time before an office tower was built there. Lovely architecture though. They did a good job on this one. It's going to be a georgeous site from the lawn in Bryant Park :D .

Chackett

July 25th, 2004, 09:32 AM

They just closed my favorite McDonalds on the site...

NoyokA

July 25th, 2004, 09:37 AM

Its a worthy trade.

NoyokA

July 25th, 2004, 09:55 AM

Does anyone know the Avenue of Americas address of One Bryant Park?

ZippyTheChimp

July 25th, 2004, 10:16 AM

I think the corner address is 1101 6th Ave.

Jeffreyny

July 25th, 2004, 10:48 AM

The one story building is still intact on the 6th Avenue side of the site.
Assuming this is to be torn down, why is it the last structure to remain standing?

BrooklynRider

July 26th, 2004, 02:20 PM

I trying to remember back to Friday, when I was walking by. I think the Henry Miller Theater remains as they dismantle and store architectural articfacts from that theater to incorporate into the new theater. That will likely be the last building down.

:!: There's also an animation that's really cool on the same site. :!:

http://www.durst.org/prop/images/1bp/hires/2.jpg

http://www.durst.org/prop/images/1bp/hires/3.jpg

http://www.durst.org/prop/images/1bp/hires/4.jpg

Arch

August 2nd, 2004, 09:34 PM

BANK OF AMERICA AT ONE BRYANT PARK
ARCHITECTURE FACT SHEET

Project

The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park Headquarters for the New York operations of Bank of America Restored and reconstructed Henry Miller’s Theater
Developer

One Bryant Park, LLC, a 50:50 joint venture between The Durst Organization and Bank of America
Site Description

A major portion of the west side block of Sixth Avenue between 42 nd and 43 rd Street toward Broadway; opposite Bryant Park, and extending westward down the block to 4 Times Square
The largest development site (2 acres) in Midtown Manhattan
Architect
Cook+ Fox Architects, New York
Groundbreaking
August 2, 2004
Project Completion
2008
Design Intent Design inspired by famed New York Crystal Palace, the first glass and steel building in America, erected in Bryant Park in 1853, along with cultural influences from New York City’s classic skyscrapers

Traces the history of the site while representing the city’s optimism of its future through the suggestion of the architectural forms
Embraces and is specific to building’s unique urban context
Building’s base is derived from and enriches the site’s complex pedestrian and transit circulation patterns
Verticality of building’s massing, spiraling up to the tip of the tallest spire, responds to the Midtown Manhattan skyline, while the configuration of the base addresses the local pedestrian and transportation thoroughfares
Design Highlights

Crystalline skyscraper
Crystal rises from its base with sculptural facets that infer movement and allow for varied views around the neighboring towers
The faceted crystal design is complimented by both the clear glass curtain wall and the tautness of the skin’s detail
Crisp folds and precise vertical lines are animated by the movement of the sun and moon
The south-facing facet turns to address its prominent relationship with Bryant Park
Dimensions

Those are great renderings of the street level. Thanks! I am not dissapointed at all. The glass is amazing and those trees. I guess there doesnt seem to be a plaza. I also notice that the stree level rendering looks much smaller than what the real size of the area is in reality. It is what it promise to be. Finally a tower to be proud of in the city.

I dont know why at the MOMA they excluded this building among others. The exhebition is all about tall towers and they had buildings smaller than the BOA tower. Even ones that are not getting built. :?

krulltime

August 3rd, 2004, 12:21 AM

:shock: Wow just finish the animation. It looks almost like a dream that will come true. It is superb from anything is getting built right now. I love this building!

Eugenius

August 3rd, 2004, 10:45 AM

The animation shows two poles at the top of 1 Bryant Park. Is one of them a spire? If so, then the statistical height of the building should be above 1,100 feet (it is clearly higher than the 4TS antenna).

JMGarcia

August 3rd, 2004, 12:22 PM

The tallest of the spires is 1200 feet.

Johnnyboy

August 3rd, 2004, 12:46 PM

exelent

londonlawyer

August 3rd, 2004, 04:24 PM

Groovy, baby!!! This building is magnificent and, in my opinion, it's the first true landmark that will be built in NYC since the Citicorp Tower on Lex!!!

londonlawyer

August 3rd, 2004, 04:42 PM

This is from B of A's website:

(P.S.: 945 feet is impressive!)

Bank of America and The Durst Organization Break Ground On the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in New York City

August 2, 2004

$1 Billion Project in Midtown Manhattan Will Result In the World's Most Environmentally Responsible High-Rise Office Building

NEW YORK - Bank of America and The Durst Organization today broke ground on the construction of the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, a 945-foot-tall crystalline skyscraper that will rise in Midtown Manhattan. Located on the west side of Sixth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Street, the high-rise office tower is scheduled to open in 2008.

Bank of America Tower will serve as the headquarters for Bank of America's operations in New York City, and house its global corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and consumer and commercial banking businesses. The bank will occupy roughly half of the 2.1 million square foot structure. The unique size of the building's footprint will enable Bank of America to operate six major trading floors there, ranging in size from 43,000 to 99,000 square feet.

"The new Bank of America Tower will be situated prominently in the Manhattan skyline, and will represent our strong, long-term commitment to New York City and our customers around the world," said Kenneth D. Lewis, president and CEO of Bank of America. "This new building, in addition to our new Bank of America banking centers, underscores our plan to become an even bigger part of the New York community in the years ahead. We appreciate all that the State and the City of New York have done to make this possible."

"I also give enormous credit to our partners in this major project, Douglas &amp; Jody Durst, co-presidents of The Durst Organization," added Mr. Lewis. "Their shared vision for building a state-of-the-art high-rise office tower - and their shared commitment to developing a property that will meet our requirements for environmental stewardship - have made the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park a reality."

"The new Tower - which will stand as one of the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise buildings - is a shining example of how you can create jobs while also protecting the environment," Governor Pataki said. "I want to commend the Bank of America and The Durst Organization for their commitment to New York. This project will not only help us reach our goal of creating one million jobs in New York by the end of the decade, it will bolster our efforts to provide the safest, cleanest environment possible for future generations of New Yorkers to enjoy."

"The magnificent new Bank of America Tower is the latest chapter in the revitalization of Bryant Park and will strengthen New York City's position as the financial capital of the world," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This bold and dynamic project will create nearly 7,000 construction jobs, and over the next 25 years, 3,000 new jobs that will generate more than $1 billion in tax revenue for the City. Our 5-borough economic development strategy is making the City more livable and business-friendly so that businesses locate here, and the creation of this new 52-story building shows that it is working. I would like to thank Bank of America and the Durst Organization for their commitment to this important project and to New York City."

Environmentally Conscious Architecture

Upon completion, Bank of America Tower will be the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office building and the first to strive for the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy &amp; Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum designation. The project incorporates innovative, high-performance technologies to use dramatically less energy, consume less potable water and provide a healthy and productive indoor environment that prioritizes natural light and fresh air.

"By providing an opportunity for one of the world's foremost financial service institutions to increase its commitment to New York, the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park already is making an important contribution to New York and demonstrates to the world the vitality of our city," said Douglas Durst, co-president of The Durst Organization. "We look forward to a long, mutually satisfying relationship and to creating not just a spectacular visual experience, but also the most environmentally responsible building possible."

Located on the largest development site in Midtown Manhattan, the Bank of America Tower will house the 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters for the New York operations of Bank of America and the 50,000-square-foot restored and reconstructed Henry Miller Theater, as well as 1 million square feet of office space for other tenants. The $1 billion project - co-developed by Bank of America and The Durst Organization - will rise adjacent to The Durst Organization's flagship tower, the Condé Nast Building at Four Times Square. Bank of America has committed to a 20-year lease for its space.

"Bank of America and the Durst Organization are making a remarkable investment -- an investment that will provide a strong economic stimulus to this area for years to come," said Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the New York State Empire Development Corporation. "Their commitment is both fresh testimony to New York's continued attraction as the hub of world finance, and a reaffirmation of the wisdom of Governor Pataki's rebirth and redevelopment of 42nd Street."

"Bank of America's new office tower will provide enormous benefits for New York City," noted Andrew Alper, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. "By working with Bank of America to accommodate the spatial needs for its New York operations, including the creation of a state-of-the-art global securities trading headquarters, we help strengthen the City's position as the premier location for the financial services industry."

The Design

Designed by Cook+Fox Architects, LLP of New York, the glass, steel and aluminum skyscraper is inspired by the building's unique site within its immediate location and its broader urban context. The faceted crystal design of the tower features unique sculptural surfaces with crisp folds and precise vertical lines that are animated by the movement of the sun and the moon. The transparency of the building, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, provides evocative views both from and through the space. From the building's base, which accommodates the surrounding complex pedestrian and transit circulation, to the overall massing, continuing up to the tip of the spire, the design responds to the built environment of Midtown Manhattan.

"The transparent faceted surfaces of the building function as a permeable membrane for shifting qualities of perception and light," says Richard Cook, partner at Cook+Fox Architects. "Embodied within this clear glass skin is something organic in nature, something which echoes not only the kinetic movement and energy from the streets below but also the dynamic and crystalline structure of forms encountered in the natural world."

The design for the Bank of America Tower is inspired by the building's unique site within its immediate location and its broader urban context. From the building's base, which accommodates the surrounding complex pedestrian and transit circulation, to the overall massing, continuing up to the tip of the spire, the design responds to the built environment of Midtown Manhattan.

The exterior wall of the tower will be a clear glass curtain-wall to complement the building's faceted crystal design. The building's form is sculpted to provide a south-facing surface to address its prominent relationship to Bryant Park and permit views into and out of the structure.

"Green" Considerations

With an emphasis on sustainability, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and energy and atmosphere, the Bank of America Tower will be constructed largely of recycled and recyclable building materials. It will feature a wide range of sophisticated environmental technologies, from filtered under-floor displacement air ventilation to advanced double-wall technology and translucent insulating glass in floor-to-ceiling windows that permit maximum daylight and optimum views. It also will include a state-of-the-art onsite 4.6-megawatt cogeneration plant, providing a clean, efficient power source for the building's energy requirements.

The Bank of America Tower will save millions of gallons of water annually through such innovative devices such as a gray-water system to capture and reuse all rain and wastewater, while planted roofs will reduce the urban heat island effect. Taking advantage of heat energy from the cogeneration plant, a thermal storage system will produce ice in the evenings, which will reduce the building's peak demand loads on the city's electrical grid. Daylight dimming and LED lights will reduce electric usage while carbon dioxide monitors automatically introduce more fresh air when necessary. By fundamentally changing the way buildings are conceived, Bank of America Tower will lead the change in the way high-rise buildings are built.

Reconstructed Henry Miller's Theater

At the direction of Bank of America and The Durst Organization, Cook+Fox Architects will restore and reconstruct the historic Henry Miller's Theater, with the goal of creating a state-of-the-art Broadway playhouse that captures the intimacy and proportions of the original 1918 Allen, Ingalls &amp; Hoffman Theater. The Georgian-style land marked façade will be preserved and restored, the oval reception room, doors and decorative plasterwork, including the iconic urns marking the 43rd Street entrance, will be salvaged and incorporated into the new design.

The seating will be increased to 1,000, the majority of which will have a prime location at orchestra level. A sophisticated acoustics system will be integrated, as well as a larger orchestra pit and a fully functional fly-tower and scenic loading facilities. Other new amenities will include improved public circulation, box office and concessions areas, with a spacious lobby bar at the orchestra level, a bar and café at the ground level, a restaurant on the upper mezzanine and a significant increase in women's restrooms.

The new theater also will be fully handicapped accessible with 20 wheelchair-viewing positions. In addition, the theater will have an auxiliary exhibition space - an adjacent through-block pedestrian passageway that provides views into the theater and includes a special documentary style multimedia presentation exploring the life and times of the historical Henry Miller playhouse.

Public Amenities

With approximately three times the public circulation space required by an as-of-right high-rise office building, the Bank of America Tower will accommodate and contribute to the surrounding pedestrian and transit circulation. Public amenities will include widened sidewalks, public street furniture and an urban garden room located at 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue, which serves as an inviting extension of Bryant Park.

The design also incorporates a new glass-enclosed subway entrance with wider stairs and an elevator at 42nd Street on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue. An underground pedestrian walkway on the north side of 42nd Street will link the B, D and F subway lines to the Times Square station and a new mid-block subway entrance on 42nd Street will connect to the below-grade walkway, in addition to a special through-block passageway featuring a "Broadway Wall of Fame" with interactive information kiosks.

About Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships with 5,700 retail banking offices, more than 16,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than ten million active users. Bank of America is the #1 Small Business Administration lender in the United States. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 96 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 82 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (ticker: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

About The Durst Organization

Founded in 1915, The Durst Organization is one of New York's oldest and largest privately owned real estate firms. Durst is widely recognized as a world leader in the development of technologically advanced and environmentally responsible commercial property. Its flagship tower at 4 Times Square was recognized as the first "green" high-rise office building in the United States, and has been praised by environmentalists. In addition to its office properties, Durst is developing The Helena, an environmentally responsible 600-unit apartment residence on West 57th Street at 11th Avenue, which is expected to open in early 2005.

About Cook+Fox

Upholding the philosophy that "at the intersection of architecture and sustainability, the wisdom of nature guides design and construction," Cook+Fox Architects of New York is headed by Richard Cook, a founding partner of Richard Cook &amp; Associates, and Robert F. Fox Jr., who joined the firm in 2003. As a team, they are designing a variety of projects that emphasize innovative design, a strong connection to place and the highest-caliber sustainable technology. Among the firm's major projects are the preservation of 11 existing buildings and the design of three new buildings for the South Street Seaport Historic District. Fox, a founding partner of Fox &amp; Fowle Architects, led that firm to a prominent position of national leadership in the area of urban design of sustainable high-rise buildings, including 4 Times Square.

NewYorkYankee

August 3rd, 2004, 05:17 PM

I LOVE this building, the architecture is amazing! Maybe one day Ill work in it... :)

londonlawyer

August 3rd, 2004, 05:30 PM

I LOVE this building, the architecture is amazing! Maybe one day Ill work in it... :)

Although this will be an extraordinary building, if you're interested in banking in NYC, head downtown to Goldman Sachs, amigo! You'll make loads more dough!!

NewYorkYankee

August 3rd, 2004, 05:41 PM

Im majoring in finance, I want to either work on wall st. as a trader, president of a bank, or work in one as a manager of some sort, or be a financial manager for a large corporation in NYC, which of these is the best and makes the most???

NewYorkYankee

August 3rd, 2004, 05:47 PM

I was looking on Pace.edu and their internship opportunities and which companies they have...I noticed JP Morgan and Citigroup... how are these? I mean after graduation...big paying?

RandySavage

August 3rd, 2004, 06:21 PM

Wow. The animation gives a totally new impression of the building. It won't be nearly as bulky as some had feared. The double spire/antennae looks great, IMO.

londonlawyer

August 3rd, 2004, 06:23 PM

I was looking on Pace.edu and their internship opportunities and which companies they have...I noticed JP Morgan and Citigroup... how are these? I mean after graduation...big paying?

It depends on what you do. If you're a financial analyst, supposedly, you start off with about $75k which is not much in NYC. Investment banking positions are the most lucrative and most prestigious (though not all jobs in I Banks are great, as noted above). Hedge fund traders make enormous money after a few years, and a degree from Harvard, Wharton, etc. is not required for that. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone into finance rather than law.

Good luck to you!

P.S.: Check out the Vault Report which is at vault.com or vaultreport.com!

NewYorkYankee

August 3rd, 2004, 10:33 PM

A hedge fund trader?????

NewYorkYankee

August 3rd, 2004, 10:46 PM

LondonLawyer, do you have a vault account? if so could you post some of the finance earnings/salaries...I cant becuase it's a pay to view site. :(
What are the specific names of the positions that make the most?? Goldman Sachs is ranked #1 for prestige.

Pottebaum

August 4th, 2004, 12:32 PM

The thing I dislike about Goldman Sachs is that, I want to work in NYC.....not New Jersey :P What sort of jobs were moved to the new tower across the river?

TonyO

August 4th, 2004, 01:00 PM

The thing I dislike about Goldman Sachs is that, I want to work in NYC.....not New Jersey :P What sort of jobs were moved to the new tower across the river?

As do a lot of the Goldman employees, apparently. If you read on the actual occupancy of 30 Hudson, it is mostly empty except for a small proportion of Goldman employees.

Pottebaum

August 4th, 2004, 01:19 PM

I found this:

Early in 2002, the company told employees that it would move equity sales and trading operations, as well as researchers and data departments, to its 875-foot tower under construction in Jersey City. That set off an insurrection by traders who did not want to be cast off to New Jersey, according to banking and real estate executives

Although, I remember a while back hearing that GS had decided to scale back the number of employees it was sending across the river. Any news on that?

billyblancoNYC

August 4th, 2004, 03:48 PM

I found this:

Early in 2002, the company told employees that it would move equity sales and trading operations, as well as researchers and data departments, to its 875-foot tower under construction in Jersey City. That set off an insurrection by traders who did not want to be cast off to New Jersey, according to banking and real estate executives

Although, I remember a while back hearing that GS had decided to scale back the number of employees it was sending across the river. Any news on that?

No one seems to know the details, but it seemed most people wanted to stay on the good side of the Hudson. I assume back-office, tech jobs will go there, like most other firms have done (still pisses me off), but the power and money will be on the Street. They wouldn't be building a billion dollar tower across from the WTC hole if they meant otherwise. At least we can hope.

dchui

August 4th, 2004, 07:25 PM

No one seems to know the details, but it seemed most people wanted to stay on the good side of the Hudson. I assume back-office, tech jobs will go there, like most other firms have done (still pisses me off), but the power and money will be on the Street. They wouldn't be building a billion dollar tower across from the WTC hole if they meant otherwise. At least we can hope.

Goldman moved a number of technology and operations departments over.

From what I hear the people working there love the building itself, but gripe about the lack of shops and services in the surrounding area. Apparently it's fairly common to take the free (for GS employees) ferry over to Manhattan so they can eat lunch or run personal errands.

RandySavage

August 5th, 2004, 02:24 PM

When seen from the west or east (in the animation), this building seems to be two mirror image buildings which meld in the middle. It reminds me of the United Architects' proposal for the WTC site: http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/US/NY/WTC2-2United.html

Pottebaum

August 5th, 2004, 03:05 PM

What would the operations jobs be? Those wouldn't be trading and finance, would they?

NewYorkYankee

August 5th, 2004, 10:27 PM

Ok, I have a question for you business people.. I was reading about Investment banking and it says that an Analyst is the bottom, then associate, then V President then so on.. so does everyone have to start at the bottom and move up? Is that right? or is an analyst something that you are forever? or is it for the beginners fresh outta college?

debris

August 5th, 2004, 10:36 PM

That hierarchy is for *banking* only (ie: underwriting bonds). You start as an analyst for 2 years out of college, or as an associate for 3-4 years after the MBA. You can get to managing director before you are forty years old, and pull down 700K to 1m.

For traders, there is practically no hierarchy, other than what your profits are. Researchers are generally called analysts, or "senior analysts".

ZippyTheChimp

August 5th, 2004, 10:38 PM

Please stay on topic.

Ptarmigan

August 5th, 2004, 11:46 PM

This building will plug a gap of buildings on Sixth Avenue.

NYatKNIGHT

August 6th, 2004, 10:48 AM

So it will have two spires to add to spiresville. I like it though, the animation is very helpful.

Q. The wrecking ball is moving closer to the old Henry Miller Theater on West 43rd Street. Is it going to be demolished, and if so, any thought given to saving the fine masonry pieces on the facade?

A. Have no fear. The exterior of the theater, built in 1917-18 and located east of Seventh Avenue next to the Condé Nast building, is a city landmark. The facade will stay where it is.

Demolition is about to begin on the rear of the theater, but the Durst Organization, which is building the 51-story Bank of America office tower to the east, plans to rebuild and expand the playhouse, which most recently was home to "Urinetown" and was previously transformed into the Kit Kat Club for "Cabaret."

Built to seat 950 people, the redesigned theater will hold about 1,000, said Douglas Durst, president of the Durst Organization. Complying with modern codes, the theater's overall space will grow to 35,000 square feet from 13,000.

The theater will lie below grade level, and patrons will enter at the balcony level. There will be one balcony instead of the former two. The theater will not lie flush between two giant office buildings, but instead the facade will protrude. "It won't look like it's pasted on," Mr. Durst said. Glass enclosures on the side will make it possible to see some of the box shape from the street.

And the facade? "There's a tremendous amount of preservation work to be done," Mr. Durst said. For six weeks, workers have been removing items from the interior to be preserved; little of the interior structure will be saved except for an elliptical entrance, which will be rebuilt.

E-mail: fyi@nytimes.com

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Gulcrapek

August 8th, 2004, 08:32 PM

Last week

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/album50/1bp2.sized.jpg

Johnnyboy

August 9th, 2004, 10:30 AM

this building is going to be a beauty

BrooklynRider

August 9th, 2004, 12:05 PM

I like the building, but they sure don't design spires like they used to. Why not place an iconic spire or crown on this thing?

PHLguy

August 10th, 2004, 09:53 PM

So its officially UC eh?

COOL! :shock:

iraz82

August 16th, 2004, 04:53 AM

Does anyone have information on the style of the building that will be at One Bryant Park? Because of its location, I assume that it will have the same sort of style as the Conde Nast building and other high rises located at Times Square.

BrooklynRider

August 16th, 2004, 09:51 AM

Does anyone have information on the style of the building that will be at One Bryant Park? Because of its location, I assume that it will have the same sort of style as the Conde Nast building and other high rises located at Times Square.

This is a joke post, right?

RedFerrari360f1

August 16th, 2004, 10:38 AM

iraz82 check this out: http://www.durst.org/i_prop.asp?propertyid=12

Johnnyboy

August 16th, 2004, 11:00 AM

I wonder when we will see a structure actually rising from street level.

RedFerrari360f1

August 16th, 2004, 05:06 PM

I was thinking the same thing. I need to see foundation and steel.

RandySavage

August 16th, 2004, 10:15 PM

My best guess at a timeline:

Site prep: Fall 2004

Excavation: Spring 2005

Below ground construction: Summer 2005

Above ground construction: Fall 2005

Topping Off: Fall 2006

Internal/Facade Finishing: 2007

Completion: Summer 2008

Johnnyboy

August 18th, 2004, 05:08 PM

I can't understand how the Empire State building was build in about a year back in the 1930's and the present buildings take years to build at lower heights than the Empire State Building.

billyblancoNYC

August 18th, 2004, 05:10 PM

I can't understand how the Empire State building was build in about a year back in the 1930's and the present buildings take years to build at lower heights than the Empire State Building.

It is kinda amazing, but newer buildings are so much more complex in many ways. HVAC, plumbing, cables, etc. make the job a lot more detailed. I sometimes think it too, but it's really not apples to apples.

James Kovata

August 19th, 2004, 12:48 AM

I also imagine that the Depression and other factors of the day had something to do with it as well. As a percentage, unemployment was much higher than in any time in recent memory. Also, worker safety requirements were nonexistent, comparatively speaking. (Remember those pictures of workers eating lunch while sitting on an I-beam hundreds of feet in the air? Those were real pictures.)

Derek2k3

August 19th, 2004, 11:32 AM

Took the night rendering of the building and inserted it into a daytime picture out of curiosity and boredom.
http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/Derek2k3/One_Bryant_Park_29_DBOX_Cook_Fox_002.sized.jpg

Bigger pic in my album. The photo is by RFC Graphics by the way.

NYatKNIGHT

August 19th, 2004, 11:34 AM

Cool! Can't wait to for this to start rising.

NoyokA

August 19th, 2004, 12:50 PM

Nice job Derek. Can you post a link of the bigger pic?

kliq6

August 19th, 2004, 04:05 PM

seems like the demoltion is almost complete as i walked nea the site today for lunch

NYguy

August 24th, 2004, 07:37 AM

NY Post...

DURST LOOKS TO BREAK $100 PER SQUARE FOOT

By STEVE CUOZZO

August 24, 2004 -- DOUGLAS Durst hopes to score the highest rents ever for a jumbo-size block of Manhattan office space: $100 per square foot for 1 million square feet at One Bryant Park, the 51-story skyscraper he is developing at Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street.

"Our rents will have a 1 in front of them," Durst says yesterday of the environmentally-friendly tower.

Durst, who's partnering with Bank of America, shared the C-note shocker when I asked him if he expected his asking rents to be competitive with those in Bruce Ratner's New York Times headquarters tower on Eighth Avenue, which is likely to be finished around the same time in 2006-7.

Ratner will probably be seeking in the $70s per foot, according to his leasing agent, CB Richard Ellis regional CEO Mary Ann Tighe.

Durst also said he did not regard any of the other new towers to be competitive with One Bryant Park.

"We will have the most environmentally responsible and intelligent building ever built. And the most desirable location in the city," he says.

Tighe sounds impressed but not altogether surprised by Durst's $100-a-foot ambition. "Douglas always knows where the market is headed," she says. "I have not known him to be wrong in 20 years."

Midtown rents in Class-A buildings typically run in the $40s-$60s. A handful of addresses with exceptional floor plates and views, such as 9 West 57th Street and the GM Building, have higher "asks," and smaller spaces on top floors at GM have gone for up to $130 a foot.

But no one has ever asked $100 or more a foot for a block anything like the size of the one at Durst's tower, where Bank of America will be the anchor tenant with 1.1 million feet on the lower floors.

One Bryant Park is one of five new buildings under construction in Manhattan with a total of 4.3 million square feet of office space up for grabs.

The biggest chunk is 1.6 million square feet at Larry Silverstein's fast-rising new 7 World Trade Center. The Times tower has 700,000 square feet available (on top of the Times Co., which will occupy the bottom half) and Dr. Axel Stawski's "boutique" building at 505 Fifth Ave. at 42nd Street has about 300,000 more.

In addition, Harry and Billy Macklowe's reclad and redesigned 340 Madison Ave., with 700,000 square feet, had emptied itself of old tenants and was thus "completely speculative," says Mitchell Konsker of the project's Cushman &amp; Wakefield marketing team. Some 600,000 feet remain to be spoken for, although Konsker says leases are out for about 200,000.

Brokers are quick to say that 4.3 million feet are a tiny fraction of Manhattan's inventory of over 400 million. Far from thinking the new space is a threat, Tighe says it isn't enough. "I don't think we have remotely enough space coming to market in Midtown to serve demand" in an environment that has seen 9.6 million feet leased to date this year — a pace that would, if it continues, top 2000's Midtown record of 19 million feet by the end of the year.

Joe Harbert, newly arrived at Cushman &amp; Wakefield as metro region COO, said, "I'm very optimistic for all of them." "The Times tower, for example, will be a gorgeous building. By the time they're finished the Times and One Bryant Park might be the only game [for new space] in Midtown."

Jones Lang LaSalle president Peter Riguardi, who represented B of A in its negotiations with Durst, notes, "There are different delivery dates for these buildings. The Times and B of A are a few years down the road."

kliq6

August 24th, 2004, 11:06 AM

as the real estate market keeps tightening up, NYC does not really have much new office space coming online. The same as in the mid 90's when the boom happened and all the firms needed space to expand and nothing was in manhattan.

krulltime

August 24th, 2004, 01:04 PM

That daytime rendering of the BOA tower is amazing Derek2k3! I can see it clearly now. :wink: I Love that tower! I wonder how far one have to be in central park to enjoy its height very well. Maybe as far as the north side of the resevoir I hope. That is a perfect place.

A rendering of One Bryant Park, which will be built largely from recycled and recyclable materials.

Olympic athletes may dream of gold, but for developers of environmentally sound buildings there is an even higher level of achievement - platinum, the best mark a building can receive under a four-tier system developed by the United States Green Building Council, a nonprofit industry group.

So far, only a handful of platinum-certified buildings have been built, or even planned, so advocates of "green" building were thrilled when the Durst Organization and the Bank of America broke ground earlier this month on One Bryant Park, along Avenue of the Americas from 42nd Street to 43rd Street, a 52-story skyscraper that aims to be the first high-rise office building to achieve such a rating.

The bank's new headquarters will open in 2008 and will showcase how clever design and technology can reduce pollution and operating costs while enhancing the health and productivity of occupants. And the project is already focusing more attention on the rapidly expanding influence of a group of green building standards known as LEED, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The Green Building Council, which was founded in 1993, received early financial support from the Department of Energy. Since the standards were published in 2000, a small but growing number of federal agencies, states and local governments have been incorporating them in laws and regulations governing the construction of new public buildings. Some have also given financial incentives or fast-track permits to private developers who use LEED.

"You can't overestimate the impact of the LEED standard in taking a lot of the emotive opposition to green building away," said Robert B. Krasa, president and chief executive of Haworth Inc., an office furnishings company that is a member of the Green Building Council. "Now we have a credible way of saying what green means."

Unlike traditional industrial standards, which specify things like which radio frequency a wireless communications product can use or how large electrical outlets should be, LEED is like a Chinese restaurant menu of environmentally friendly goals. Its standards are divided into categories including energy efficiency, water conservation, and use of recycled and recyclable materials.

Credits can also be accumulated for using paints and carpets that reduce chemical emissions and for designs that maximize the amount of natural light and outdoor views available to workers. Especially innovative designs, construction practices and maintenance plans can qualify for extra credits.

LEED certification, including the level a building achieves, is based on an independent review by an auditor accredited by the Green Building Council. "Before LEED, anybody could call anything they wanted to green, and that was exactly what was happening," said Robert K. Watson, a green building expert in the Washington office of the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of several environmental groups that have joined the Green Building Council. "There was a lot of snake oil being sold."

Even the most enthusiastic supporters concede that platinum-rated LEED structures are more expensive than a typical commercial or institutional building of the same size. One Bryant Park, for instance, is a $1 billion project that included several unusual expenses like an electricity generating station, which is to meet most normal electrical needs. In addition, heat generated by the $10 million, 4.6-megawatt power plant will be used to make ice at night to help air-condition the building.

The building will also capture and reuse all rainwater and wastewater and will be built largely from recycled and recyclable materials. It will make extensive use of lighting and dimming systems that reduce electrical light levels when daylight is available. Another energy-saving and air-quality feature is a system that ventilates the building by delivering air from an under-floor system instead of using overhead ducts.

The additional investment to achieve platinum status averages from 6 percent to 7 percent of total building costs, according to estimates from the Green Building Council. But the same research is showing that less-ambitious LEED-certified buildings can be completed at no additional cost or, in some cases, at lower cost than standard construction once designers and construction firms gain experience with the green building materials and construction processes.

S. Richard Fedrizzi, president and chief executive of the Green Building Council, which is based in Washington, maintains that green investments pay for themselves over time, often in energy savings alone, and produce such large health and productivity benefits that building any other way is embarrassing.

The latest evidence, according to Mr. Fedrizzi and others, comes from a study that the State of California commissioned last year to evaluate 33 LEED-certified buildings. It concluded that they cost an average of $4 more a square foot, but that over a 20-year period they would generate savings of $48.87 a square foot (in current dollars) for standard- and silver-certified buildings, and $67.31 for gold- and platinum-certified buildings.

More than 75 percent of the projected benefits were attributed to reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, lower turnover and other human factors, said Gregory H. Kats, the principal author of the study. Mr. Kats, a former Department of Energy official, runs Capital E, a consulting firm in Washington.

The report based such conclusions on the results of unrelated studies of the impact of features like natural lighting and local temperature controls on students and office workers rather than on any preliminary data from the new California buildings.

The first full-fledged LEED rating system for new construction was published in 2000. That same year the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Annapolis, Md., became the first platinum-certified building.

The Godrej Green Building Center, an exhibition and training center for environmental businesses, in Hyderabad, India, holds the highest LEED rating of any platinum building, but experts say that several buildings in Europe may be just as advanced. "Europe is 30 years ahead of us in green building," said Mr. Krasa, the office furnishings executive.

Green building experts say that although as much as 20 percent of the government and institutional building market is being built to LEED standards, the corresponding number for commercial construction is less than 5 percent.

The biggest hurdle has been that the initial LEED standards are tailored to buildings occupied by their owners or occupied primarily by a single major tenant - the Bank of America, for instance, will be the main occupant at One Bryant Park. That situation makes it easier to integrate design and construction, and means that owners are more likely to take a longer-term perspective on their investment.

Last fall, the Green Building Council sought to make LEED methods more appealing for commercial buildings by publishing two sets of proposed standards. Under the first, called LEED Core and Shell, speculative developers could seek LEED certification for the basic interior and exterior structural elements of their buildings. The second, LEED Commercial Interior, would apply to work done to finish such buildings once tenants were attracted. The pilot version of the core and shell standard is guiding construction of the 52-story building going up on the site of what used to be 7 World Trade Center, which is scheduled to open at the end of 2005.

"We expect to be the first LEED-certified office building in New York," said Janno Lieber, World Trade Center project director for the Silverstein organization, which is redeveloping the site. "We're not sure what level we'll get."

Seven World Trade Center may have to share bragging rights with the Hearst Building at Eighth Avenue and 56th Street, which would become the first LEED-certified skyscraper under the whole-building standards, if it is completed as planned in June 2006.

The Green Building Council estimates that the amount of building space addressed by the new core and shell standards is 16 times larger than the owner-occupant market. And next year the council expects to publish proposed standards for existing commercial and institutional buildings - a universe 80 times larger than the prime market for the original standards. LEED standards for residential homes and entire communities are also being developed.

Experts expect the standards to go through substantial revisions as technology improves and the full impact of building practices on the environment becomes better understood.

"We think we know buildings because they are all around us, but they are enormously complicated," Mr. Watson said. "We know shockingly little about how they behave."

NoyokA

September 7th, 2004, 03:36 PM

The Discovery Channel had a segment on One Bryant Park last night, supposendly Cook + Fox set out to design the building for a platinum LEED rating.

Gulcrapek

September 7th, 2004, 04:04 PM

That was the program with the Caltrans building in LA?

NoyokA

September 7th, 2004, 05:14 PM

Thata one.

NoyokA

September 7th, 2004, 08:01 PM

Its on again right now. I'll videotape the OBP segment for all of you.

NYguy

September 7th, 2004, 08:21 PM

I captured these rough shots:

The tower as viewed from different angles

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33557956/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558045/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558049/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558088/medium.jpg

The architects and their building

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558201/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558203/medium.jpg

There will be two masts at the top of the building. The shorter mast will serve as a vertical wind turbine...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558208/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/33558326/medium.jpg

yanni111

September 7th, 2004, 09:11 PM

BOA in those shots from that show is TOWERING OVER Conde Nast by alot!!! This building is going to rock!!! perfect location for such a tall one!!!

RS085

September 7th, 2004, 09:29 PM

hahahahaha, i was just watching this...

RS085

September 7th, 2004, 09:32 PM

It looks alot smaller in the rendering pictures. After watching the program, it looks alot taller. I dunno, but I do know its gonna be nice. Cant wait for all the buildings under construction to be complete.

You know the motto: ' Ever upward '.

NoyokA

September 23rd, 2004, 11:59 AM

The sites large construction driveway:

http://www.pbase.com/image/34153875

Excavation underway:

http://www.pbase.com/image/34154122

Renovation continues at the Henry Miller Theatre:

http://www.pbase.com/image/34158434

BrooklynRider

September 23rd, 2004, 01:29 PM

The south side of 42nd Street on this block is one of the worst stretchs in the city - Just like the north side of 42nd Street between Madison and Fifth. I wonder if this building will have an impact on the the whole strip?

NYguy

September 23rd, 2004, 02:36 PM

Thanks Stern. You realize just how big that site is when you walk by and look up at the surrounding skyscrapers. Good to see digging on this one...

http://www.pbase.com/sternyc/image/34154122

yepole

September 24th, 2004, 10:40 PM

Some pictures of 1BP site:
http://pictures.unwiredny.com/Pictures/Constr_1BP/

JonesBeach

September 28th, 2004, 10:04 AM

I'm actually going to be on that job as a resident engineer starting in January. Once the structure starts going up I will post a ton of pics. This is quite a discussion about one building!! This place is awesome.

Jones Beach

NYatKNIGHT

September 28th, 2004, 10:23 AM

Excellent! Looking forward to it. Is January when you expect the structure to start going up?

jiw40

September 30th, 2004, 09:13 PM

Is the architect also a practicing magician?It looks like he's making the model lean with just a wave of his hand.

Edward

October 3rd, 2004, 11:35 PM

The site of Bank of America Tower (http://www.wirednewyork.com/1bryant_park.htm) and the Henry Miller Theater. 2 October 2004.

A person who works at the Conde Nast Building was kind enough to set up a live webcam of the OBP construction site.

http://www.virtupic.com/condewebcam/webcam.html

Johnnyboy

October 28th, 2004, 07:17 AM

hurrraaaayyyyyy. Thanks so much :D

NYatKNIGHT

October 28th, 2004, 01:42 PM

Will there be a race between this building and the New York Times Tower? Which will top out first?

Pilaro

October 30th, 2004, 03:32 AM

Well, BoA has farther to go so they better get moving (climbing)!

RS085

November 4th, 2004, 01:33 PM

I'd like to see some renderings of NYT and BofA in the Midtown skyline. Someone did that before and it was nice.

BrandonUptown

November 4th, 2004, 01:56 PM

Me too

NYguy

November 4th, 2004, 05:08 PM

I went by the site yesterday. I wasn't exactly sure what they were putting up on the 42nd St side....

yepole

November 4th, 2004, 11:11 PM

This is the site, they are digging a little and then putting some steel pavement along the street:
http://www.unwiredny.com/pictures.unwiredny.com/Catalog/Constr_1BP/01204s.jpg (http://www.unwiredny.com/pictures.unwiredny.com/Catalog/Constr_1BP/01204.jpg)
And here - what's left from the Theater:
http://www.unwiredny.com/pictures.unwiredny.com/Catalog/Constr_1BP/01205s.jpg (http://www.unwiredny.com/pictures.unwiredny.com/Catalog/Constr_1BP/01205.jpg)

NYguy

November 6th, 2004, 08:46 AM

More pics...

Nov 5th, 2004 - 42nd Street

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/35998794/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/35998806/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/35998807/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/35998817/large.jpg

Johnnyboy

November 6th, 2004, 09:21 AM

great. pogress is moving

hella good

November 6th, 2004, 09:27 AM

in the second photo are those beams new or a remainder of an old building?

ZippyTheChimp

November 6th, 2004, 11:59 AM

Probably part of a dam to keep the wall of the excavation from collapsing.

NYguy

November 6th, 2004, 05:15 PM

in the second photo are those beams new or a remainder of an old building?

I'm not sure what that is, its along the curb of the street, almost appearing to be in the street. It was just put up recently...

ZippyTheChimp

November 6th, 2004, 07:09 PM

There's going to be a new underground pedestrian connection between the 6th Ave and Times Square subway stations, with a new midblock entrance on W42nd. Maybe those posts are at the entrance.

NYguy

November 8th, 2004, 09:34 AM

There's going to be a new underground pedestrian connection between the 6th Ave and Times Square subway stations, with a new midblock entrance on W42nd. Maybe those posts are at the entrance.

I thought it might have something to do with the subway...

NYguy

November 8th, 2004, 09:43 AM

Nov 7, 2004
A look on site

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/36098970/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/36098983/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/36098990/large.jpg

The facade, or what's left of the theater...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/36098992/large.jpg

This photo of the NY Times tower site also taken Nov 7th shows the Times' site further along in this race to the skyline...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/36098945/large.jpg

kz1000ps

November 8th, 2004, 07:33 PM

I absolutely cannot wait for these two buildings to completed. I can only imagine the view of BOA from across Bryant Park will be one of the best vistas in the city (at least for us skyscraper dorks heh). That natural shape works perfectly there soaring over the surrounding boxes.

Kris

November 13th, 2004, 06:27 AM

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/11/12/opinion/13OPART.gif

NoyokA

November 13th, 2004, 08:06 AM

I think a better close would be that instead of seeing Broadway from his grave, which ofcourse is impossible. By 2007 you will be able to see the building preserving and rising above his theatre, an obelisk, from his final resting place.

guest

November 13th, 2004, 11:05 AM

where did that Henry Miller cartoon come from? The New Yorker? I have been waiting for someone to tell the story of Henry Miller's Theater....

kz1000ps

November 13th, 2004, 02:01 PM

the New York Times...probably the op-ed page?

H-man

November 18th, 2004, 07:28 PM

is this building going to be on the same block as conde nast>? and i love this tower but i think the sipre is a bit too big

Derek2k3

November 18th, 2004, 10:31 PM

http://newyork.construction.com/features/archive/0411_feature1.asp

NYguy

November 19th, 2004, 08:17 AM

i love this tower but i think the sipre is a bit too big

It may be big, but its really no different than spires on buildings like the Bank of China or Central Plaza in Hong Kong...

http://www.dupont.com/safetyglass/lgn/stories/images/2110e.jpg

http://www.worldcityphotos.org/China/CHN-HongKong-archhkuhk1,jpg.jpg

H-man

November 24th, 2004, 02:52 PM

true but isnt there plenty of anntennas in midtown

NYguy

November 24th, 2004, 04:54 PM

true but isnt there plenty of anntennas in midtown

As of now there are two. I don't know if that qualifies as plenty, but this wouldn't be one of them anyway. It would be a spire like the spire of the Chrysler Building.

It's really only 2 - the ESB and Conde Nast. The Chrysler would count as a spire, and the Reuters is hardly noticeable ( or high ) enough to count. There really are no others on the scale we are talking about - significant spikes on the skyline.

NYguy

December 6th, 2004, 08:31 AM

Dec 5, 2004
Site of Bank of America tower

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/37188585/large.jpg

When complete, this tower will be taller, and reach higher than the Conde Nast building next door...

Transforming the Skyline and the Green Building Market
Typical Sectional Perspective of Tower Office. dbox for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
Bank Of America and The Durst Organization Break Ground on The Bank of America Tower At One Bryant Park in New York City, Designed by Cook+Fox Architects.

Model of Building Top. Jock Pottle/ Esto for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
A 945-foot-tall crystalline skyscraper will begin to transform the New York skyline. On August 2, 2004, Bank of America and The Durst Organization (New York) broke ground on the construction of the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, located on the largest development site in Midtown Manhattan. The 2.2-million-square-foot skyscraper is scheduled to open in 2008, serving as the headquarters for Bank of America’s operations in New York City, occupying about half of the 54-story tower.

What is even more impressive isn’t apparent at first glance – the second tallest building in the city will also demonstrate a commitment to the environment.

“The scale of the environmental commitment at One Bryant Park is the largest of its kind, ever. At 54 stories and 2.2 million square feet, the thorough and thoughtful stewardship of energy and resources will rank it as the preeminent example of sustainable architecture on earth,” says Richard Cook, partner, Cook+Fox Architects.

Upon completion in 2008, the Bank of America Tower is striving to be the world’s most environmentally responsible high-rise office building, striving for the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum designation for green buildings.

View of Tower from Empire State Building. dbox for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
“Look at what is going on with this unbelievable project,” says USGBC President Rick Fedrizzi. “It is a high rise building in the heart of Manhattan. It will be the second tallest building (for a while) and will be a LEED Platinum rated building… all nice and consistent with many projects around the United States, until you realize that the tenant is the Bank of America — bankers — people who understand the bottom line financial implications better than almost anyone else. If they see the positive financial implications, and the owner/developers, the Dursts, see the financial value (as well as the real estate market drivers being satisfied), we have entered an important new era in the marketplace adoption of green building… market transformation is in high gear!”
And Robert F. Fox Jr., partner, Cook+Fox Architects, couldn’t agree more! “To be part of a dedicated team of owners and professionals creating a LEED Platinum 2.2 million square foot office building in the heart of Manhattan is a real privilege,” he says. “The commitment from both The Durst Organization and the Bank of America teams to set higher standards in high performance buildings allowed us to do our best work.”

The Bank of America project will incorporate innovative, high-performance technologies to use less energy and water and provide a healthy and productive indoor environment filled with natural light and fresh air.

View of Urban Garden Room. Screampoint for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
Designed by Cook+Fox Architects, LLP of New York, the glass, steel and aluminum skyscraper is inspired by the famed Crystal Palace, the first glass and steel building in America, erected in Bryant Park in 1853.
“One Bryant Park is in the heart of New York, at the confluence of capitalism and entertainment, leisure and literacy, finance and fashion. Its design is informed by a sense of place – 42nd Street and 6th Avenue was the site of America’s first great glass structure – the Crystal Palace. With energy conservation and imaginative use of natural resources, the building actually makes improvements to its surrounding environment,” says Cook.

View of Tower from Bryant Park. dbox for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
The design was also inspired by the building’s unique site within its immediate location and its broader urban context. “I believe that vision matters,” Cook continues. “The buildings we create reflect the goals and aspirations of our generation. This design is a collective vision from the people behind One Bryant Park, for the people in One Bryant park, and the people around One Bryant Park.”
The $1 billion tower will stand adjacent to The Durst Organization’s flagship tower, the Condé Nast Building at Four Times Square. In addition to the 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters for the bank, the project includes the 50,000-square-foot restored and reconstructed Henry Miller Theater, as well as 1 million square feet of office space for other tenants.

Sustainable Design

Sustainable Concepts for One Bryant Park (Air Filtration). Doyle Partners for Cook+Fox Architects LLP.
With a significant emphasis on sustainability, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and energy and atmosphere, the Bank of America Tower will be constructed largely of recycled and recyclable building materials. The exterior wall of the tower will be a clear glass curtain-wall to complement the building’s faceted crystal design. The building’s form is sculpted to provide a south-facing surface to address its prominent relationship to Bryant Park and permit views into and out of the structure.

“The team’s goals and strategies for the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park are threefold,” says Fox says. “First, it is the right thing to do for our planet – it is the intelligent way to build. Second, it is the right thing to do for the building tenants – it is the economic way to build. And third, it will set an example and hopefully change the building industry.”

The tower will feature a wide range of sophisticated environmental technologies, from filtered under-floor displacement air ventilation to advanced double-wall technology and translucent insulating glass in floor-to-ceiling windows that permit maximum daylight and optimum views. It will also include a state-of-the-art onsite 4.6-megawatt cogeneration plant, providing a clean, efficient power source for the building’s energy requirements.

The Bank of America Tower intends to save millions of gallons of water annually through such innovative devices as waterless urinals and a graywater system to capture and reuse all rain and wastewater, while planted roofs will reduce the urban heat island effect. Taking advantage of heat energy from the cogeneration plant, a thermal storage system will produce ice in the evenings, which will reduce the building’s peak demand loads on the city’s electrical grid. Daylight dimming and LED lights will reduce electric usage while carbon dioxide monitors automatically introduce more fresh air when necessary.

Cook+Fox Architects will also restore and reconstruct the historic Henry Miller Theater, with the goal of creating a state-of-the-art Broadway playhouse. The Georgian-style land-marked façade will be preserved and restored, the oval reception room, doors and decorative plasterwork, including the iconic urns marking the 43rd Street entrance, will be salvaged and incorporated into the new design.

With approximately three times the public circulation space required by an as-of-right high-rise office building, the Bank of America Tower will accommodate and contribute to the surrounding pedestrian and transit circulation. Public amenities will include widened sidewalks, public street furniture and an “urban garden room.” The design also incorporates a new glass-enclosed subway entrance with wider stairs and an elevator, an underground pedestrian walkway and more.
“I grew up with the environmental call of ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’… It did not hit home, in my heart, until my wife and I traveled to Cambodia to adopt our twin sons. We forever linked our lives with the Khmer culture, literally on the other side of the globe,” Cook says. “We take the ‘acting locally’ quite seriously with One Bryant Park and pray that the actions taken here by an enlightened client may plant the seed for global change.”

Notable Green Features at the Bank Of America Tower At One Bryant Park, New York
Groundbreaking: August 2, 2004

This article was contributed by RF|Binder Partners Inc., with Cook+Fox Architects LLP and Michelle Clark Hucal, editor of ED+C. For more information on LEED, visit www.usgbc.org. The progress of the Bank of America tower will be documented in future issues of ED+C.

Gulcrapek

December 15th, 2004, 07:58 PM

Is anyone else having problems with dbox's site?

NoyokA

December 15th, 2004, 08:03 PM

Damn, can anyone make sense of this:

http://www.edcmag.com/EDC/FILES/IMAGES/117314.jpg

Is this the back view?

Derek2k3

December 16th, 2004, 04:48 AM

Is anyone else having problems with dbox's site?

works fine for me.

Is this the back view?

yup, at about 44th and Times Square. The vertical line that cuts the tower in half is parallel to the cross-streets.

JMGarcia

December 16th, 2004, 09:10 AM

Damn, can anyone make sense of this:

http://www.edcmag.com/EDC/FILES/IMAGES/117314.jpg

Is this the back view?

Its the view from the northwest.

NYatKNIGHT

December 16th, 2004, 10:55 AM

Not its best side.

BrooklynRider

December 16th, 2004, 01:46 PM

When one considers all the tall boxes we've had in past, this one is far more interesting from its worst angle, it seems.

NoyokA

January 8th, 2005, 09:33 AM

Construction is picking up, the hole is getting larger:

http://www.virtupic.com/condewebcam/webcam.html

Jimbo Holland

January 8th, 2005, 11:34 AM

here are some pics

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/4901bp_bmp.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/3946cook_img_19.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/4901bp2_bmp.jpg

NewYorkYankee

January 8th, 2005, 12:06 PM

I love that top pic, Thanks Holland. Stern, kudos to you for that link!!!!!!

Kolbster

January 8th, 2005, 01:27 PM

Yea Man, those pics reallllly help. They put it into perspective...good look.